Eclipse
by Kinkotsuman
Summary: Nearly twenty years in the future, the world has become a much darker place under the influence of a new ruler, and it's up to a select few to fight back.
1. The Begginings of a Beautiful Friendship

Chapter 1: The Beginnings of a Beautiful Friendship

Navigating the underground labyrinth of the Mahora Library was more difficult than he'd anticipated. The young man tossed his battered cloak aside and begun unbuckling his chain mail. He'd nearly been killed four times on his journey, twice what he'd predicted. Although, to be fair, two of those times were from the same dragon. Remembering the firefight, he bent down to brush ash off of his pants. Although he was quite certain it wouldn't make any difference, he wanted to look his best before meeting with the woman he hoped to apprentice under. Casually combing his messy beige-brown hair with his hand, he stepped forward over an enchanting (and, given the surroundings, likely _enchanted_) flower garden and looked Evangeline A.K McDowell up and down.

She did not look like much, considering her reputation. But then again, being locked in a basement for a decade would be hell on anyone. Still, he'd expected her to retain a little more dignity. The little blond was chained by her wrists and ankles to the wall with just enough slack to sit down. Her eyes and nose were red and swollen, and ten year's worth of dried allergy-induced tears and mucous covered her face. She was asleep at the time, and a string of drool hung out her mouth. Remembering that first impressions are always important, he plucked a flower from the garden and tossed it into her face. She immediately began sneezing herself awake. After she was done, the young man held a handkerchief to her nose for her to blow into, and used another one to clean up her face. Contrary to her nature, Eva looked up at the man with puppy-like eyes filled with gratitude. Then, as if waking from a spell, a harsher look fell across her face, and she studied her visitor more closely. He had an average height for his age, which she guessed was around eighteen, but he had a slender build. She noticed his hands seemed particularly delicate, like one might expect from a pianist. His face contradicted that impression completely; it was stern and round, with two sharp brown eyes that seemed eternally contemplative. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak first, which she thought was odd, but decided to humor him.

"Well, you wouldn't have come here if you didn't know who I am, so why don't we start with an introduction from you?"

He responded in Japanese with a distinct American accent, though he'd clearly had plenty of practice with the language.

"My name is my own business. However, I came here hoping that you might call me apprentice."

Eva cackled, and her laughter echoed about the room. It was soon replaced by a fit of sneezing, however, and the young man sighed impatiently.

"Why don't we do something about those flowers, eh?"

With a wave of his hand, the plants erupted in flames. Eva sniffled and muttered pitifully, despite herself, "They'll just grow back later…"

"Then we should use this time we have to discuss an arrangement…"

Eva chuckled again. "Why should I help you? I've got a long sentence in this prison to look forward to, and other than cutting it short there's not a damn thing I want. Why do you want help from me, anyways?"

"There is a technique you developed, long ago, that Negi Springfield used to become extremely powerful. I want it, because I want him destroyed. You should too."

"Why is that? Because _he_ didn't bust me outa here? No, even I can't hold that against him…"

"Mr. Springfield has become…different since you saw him last. It's been years since you talked, correct?"

Eva sniffed. "Yeah, the last time he was down here was to tell me about Asuna's death. I still can't believe she goes adventuring around the world of magic without any serious injury and ends up getting gunned downed by some trigger-happy idiots in a no-name bank."

"In all fairness, she probably didn't expect her Pactio card to fail her. Negi hadn't told anyone he was going to the other world for a vacation."

"Yeah. Poor guy took it hard."

"Harder than you know. I think you could use a little history lesson, Eva. I promise, by the end of it, you will see exactly why you must give me the power to defeat him. And so you know you can trust me…"

The teenager closed his eyes and held his hands above his head, and a golden glow drifted over the two of them.

"_Ketril, Aylt, Delt! I pray to the All-Seeing Eye, bind our tongues from telling lies!"_

As the glow settled over himself and Eva, enshrouding them in a faint, golden aura, he reopened his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Although it's new Western magic, you should be able to recognize it as a binding truth spell. Neither of us will be able to tell a lie for the next twelve hours or so. Plenty of time for a little story-telling. Now, to begin: you probably remember that the existence of magic was revealed to the world due to the monster invasion known as the Hellstorm in the year 2010. But, seeing as you were imprisoned at around that time, you wouldn't know about the turmoil that occurred afterwards."

"Not the specifics, but I have a general idea. Obviously it became necessary for magic users to gain official representation once it was clear that they would no longer be able to operate in secret, and there was a battle for the top position in that representation. Since Negi and his White Wings were regarded as heroes due to their integral part in quelling the Hellstorm they ended up being a deciding factor in the political struggle. Of course, they backed the Konoe clan, and after that I stopped getting contacted by Negi or any of the girls. Guess it wouldn't be very good for their reputations to keep in contact with a convicted criminal."

"Well, let me fill you in on what happened next, and some details you left out. The Konoe clan gained full political power due to association with the White Wings, true, but only over Japan. As it stood, all nations were going to be assigned a magical body of government to stand alongside the original one. However, Negi had other plans. He selected a handful of individuals he trusted more than any others and formed the White Wing "Honor Guard", a group that was publicly disclosed to be bodyguards-slash-envoys for the Konoe. However, in reality they were a black ops group who were placed in charge of convincing all other nations in possession of a World Tree to turn control of it over to the Konoe for the annual festival of their blooming, and to do so by any means necessary. The public motivation for this was to throw a world-wide celebration on the day the trees bloomed. In reality, Negi planned to use the trees for casting a spell on all of the planet Earth, similar to what Chao Lingshen had attempted some years earlier. Only in this case the intent was not merely to reveal magic to the world. The spell Negi planned to use the trees for would rob the entire human race of their free will."

"Hold on a second. None of this makes any sense. Why would the Konoe clan go along with all this? They've never been the type for world domination before."

"No one knows. Maybe Negi convinced them to change their ways. Maybe they didn't have the backbone to stop him. Or maybe they realized that the key support of their political stability, the Honor Guard, was under _his_ control and not theirs. In any case, they backed him completely, and in the year 2012 Negi harnessed the power of the world trees to rob every living being on earth of their willpower for twenty-four hours. And in that time span, activated automatically by a sleeper switch, the only things on the planet with any drive delivered the world into Negi's hands. A magic-powered robot army he'd commissioned from Satomi Hakase stormed from nation to nation, disarming entire militaries and capturing entire governments. At the end of the day, they were replaced by hand-picked members of his following, and just like that Negi Springfield became the ruler of the world. He was nineteen years old."

"I don't believe it…The kid finally went and got his hands dirty enough to do what needed to be done. Pity it took Asuna's death to light a fire under him, she was a fine kid. But damn if her death didn't go to waste. So how'd the world turn out under the rule of my little boya?"

"I believe the most appropriate description would be 'Orwellian'. The White Wings and robot army made an efficient world police with almost all possible opposition removed, and since the most powerful magic forces were allied with him there was no way for the other world to interfere with him without inciting a literal world war. He was free to do whatever he wanted, and his first act was to coerce the world into peace through a strict and brutal regime fueled by the terror and eventual apathy of his subjects. His second was to marry his new girlfriend: Nodoka Miyazaki."

"Ol' bookstore, eh? Heh, guess I could've seen that coming."

"Perhaps. More of a shock, however, is that not all of Negi's friends agreed with his new ideals. Some of them banded together to form a secret society that quickly expanded into a complete rebel group. It was funded by Ayaka Yukihiro, who was wounded by Negi's partner choice. It was lead by Chisame Hasegawa, who felt partially responsible for Negi's dark methods. Its primary combatant was Kotaro Inugami, who was determined to bring Negi back to his senses even if he had to kill him to do it. They launched a well-planned attack on the day of the wedding, and might've succeeded in forcing the boy dictator to submit to them had they not overlooked one thing: that Negi was now a soldier of darkness, and those who submit to dark magic do not think twice about taking the lives of those who threaten them. Had they revealed their identities to him ahead of time, they might've been spared, but because he saw them only as attackers he reacted with the full force of his power. The entire rebel strike force was murdered by him single-handedly."

"My god…"

"However, our story does not quite end there. A few strands of the rebels still remained, and after many years of lurking in the shadows they obtained information that would give them the advantage they needed, if used correctly. Before long they devised a plan that would bring down the totalitarian rule of Negi and the Konoe clan. But to enact it, they needed more power. So they sent their most promising young soldier to receive training from the one person in the entire mortal world who could best Negi Springfield in single combat even now, over twenty years after she'd first dueled him."

"And here you stand. Well, I must say that was a fascinating tale, but I'm afraid I missed the part where you tell a lowly prisoner like me why I should give a damn about the outside world."

"Ah yes, that. Tell me, did you ever think it was odd that your arrest occurred mere days before the Hellstorm? Or that the invading force had conveniently chosen Japan as their first target? Or that Negi and the White Wings were able to fight so effectively, despite the fact that they shouldn't have had any time to prepare for the assault?"

The boy grinned with devilish amusement as he watched Eva's eyes widen in realization. Her mouth moved without making any noise, and as her face contorted with rage he went on to explain what she'd already figured out.

"Negi knew there was only one way to reveal magic to the world without waiting another twenty-two years for the world tree to become primed again. And that way was a full-scale assault by one world on the other. As long as he came out of the battle a hero, he'd be the one in control of the aftermath. Ensuring that meant being the most powerful mage in Japan at the time of the assault, which was easy enough. All it took was one little call to some authorities in the magic world, and the legendary villain Evangeline A.K McDowell was buried in a deep, dark hole with nothing to keep her company but her hay fever and a self-sustaining grove of flowers."

He paused, taking a moment to revel in sadistic pleasure, and then he asked Eva in a voice dripping with innocence,

"So, Eva, is revenge a good enough reason for you to care?"

Eva stared straight into his eyes, and for a moment he was actually afraid she might break free of her bonds. She took three deep breaths and drew herself up to her full (albeit nonetheless diminutive) height, and sneezed five times.

"Hetcheew Hetcheew Hetcheew! Etcheew TCHIEEW! Alright, sniff, let's start lesson one."

* * *


	2. Dual

Chapter 2: Dual

Captain Setsuna of the White Wing Honor Guard gazed at her security monitors with a deep sense of annoyance. The robot squadron dispatched to bring down their first troublemaker in five months had been decimated by a teenager who was now using the head of one of them as a camera, apparently aware that all androids transmitted data directly back to White Wing headquarters.

"Are you listening, you scum-sucking parasite slave drivers?! I have annihilated your pathetic troop of mechanical monstrosities, and I will do the same to you! Come here and face me, otherwise…"

He turned the camera to focus on a freckle-faced young woman Setsuna took a moment to recognize. It was an old classmate from her days in Mahora, what was her name…Natsumi.

"This little beauty right here is going to suffer beyond her imagination. I will put her through every level of hell, twice, and then I will grant her the release of an excruciating death. I'm sure she won't mind, she's probably used to ending up caught in the middle of your personal affairs, hm? Well, what do you say? Ready to add another innocent casualty to your long list of collateral damage? Better hurry, I don't know how much longer I…can…wait…H-heh, hehehehe HA HA HA!"

Setsuna grimaced. She remembered how often Natsumi, and who knows how many others, had been caught in the crossfire during Negi's battles. Reflecting on their first trip to the world of magic together, she began twirling a finger through her long ponytail, an anxious habit she'd picked up after she'd been chosen to lead the Honor Guard. It was during times when she had to deal with lunatics like these that she regretted having accepted the position, but deep down she knew she'd never have refused. How could she? One of the perks of being leader of the Guard was that she was in complete control over Konoka's protection detail, which meant she could assign herself to be her body guard any time she wanted. Thinking of Konoka, she glanced at her clock and saw that her shift on monitor duty was set to end in half an hour. However, protocol dictated that she'd have to stay on her position until all her active operations were completed. Not wanting to spend a single second longer away from her girlfriend more than she needed to, she decided to try to resolve the situation as quickly as she could and typed in the contact code for the Honor Guard's most lethal member into her video screen.

"Mana, I want you to report to the coordinates I'm sending you and deal with some lunatic whose holding an innocent civilian hostage. He wiped out an entire squadron by himself. Deal with it however you see fit, just get it over with quickly."

"Hmm, want to get back to bed with your lover on time, eh? Very well, captain; I shall terminate with _extreme_ prejudice."

Mana arrived on the rooftop of the building via helicopter drop, and immediately had her guns aimed at him and her eyes on Natsumi. Had he been an ordinary thug, she would've dispatched him before he'd had a chance to harm the hostage using a sniper rifle, but her instruments had detected a force field that would protect him from anything short of a direct assault. And given his proximity to his captive, her speed alone would not be enough to defeat the cloaked adversary. He began to speak, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. It had been a long time since she'd got such a dark feeling from an opponent, and it perturbed her.

"That's it? Only one? We are disappointed. Yes, we will have to punish you for that, little girl. Punish you very badly. How lucky for us."

Mana blinked. So there was more than one of him? Where? They were all alone on the roof, and the copter would have scanned all but the most advanced cloaking mechanisms. She decided to keep him talking. Bad guys always made mistakes when they started talking.

"Who're you calling a little girl? I'm a good fifteen years older than you, kid."

Despite the darkenss Mana felt his eyes look her up and down, and she felt more disappointed than intimidated. Thanks to her athletic and curvy build, she was always getting leered at by male enemies. She saw it as a sign of weakness, that they'd be distracted by the figure of an opponent. Granted, she was perhaps more generously endowed than other women, but nonetheless…

"Older in body, maybe, but not in mind. Still playing cops and robbers with all your old school friends, huh? Still think all there is in life is the next mission and the next paycheck. You're over thirty and I bet you still haven't started to like boys yet, have you?"

Mana shrugged, still holding her weapons steady. The man had not moved. What was he waiting for? "You have a skewed view about what it means to be mature, kid."

"H-heh, maybe so. Maybe we're _both_ just little kids who got messed up a long time ago and never grew out of it. Something bad did happen to you a long time ago, didn't it?"

Mana was used to this speech. She was becoming more comfortable by the moment, as this confrontation began to mirror all the others she'd had with a lunatic who thought he was the best in the world. "Don't waste my time, I've heard that one before. The past is the past."

"True enough. Time to play, then?"

He removed his cloak, revealing a suit of chain mail, and Mana thought she could make out some kind of black symbols on the backs of his hands. Then she felt a surge of dark magical energy pulse from him, and she knew that this fight wasn't going to be a quick one. Setsuna was going to have to wait a little longer before getting back to Konoka.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"HA!"

After that single laugh, the armored boy leapt into the sky and began firing unincanted dark arrows down at Mana in a standard spread pattern. She dodged them gracefully, adding a little flair to her movements. She liked to enjoy herself on the battlefield when she could get away with it. Besides, it often kept her attackers looking at _her_ instead of where she was going. After maneuvering underneath him she aimed up at the sky to discover that her target was already gone, and she immediately leapt and twirled into the air, firing several shots at where a final arrow had come from behind her. The bullets were enchanted with explosive fire spells, and they engulfed a fraction of the building in flames, sending some of it crashing down to the streets below. Mana glanced back to make sure Natsumi was still okay, which she was. In the firelight she could see that she'd been bound and gagged, but she was still okay. She looked back at the inferno and saw that her opponent had emerged, unharmed, and was casting a spell to counter-attack.

"_Hotter than a demon's hand / Older than both god and man / Mark my foe with blazing brand / Sear the sky, and scorch the land!_"

Two enormous pillars of flame emerged in front of the youth and spun towards Mana, who calculated two possible methods of escape and chose the riskier one. After getting a running start she jumped in between the scorching towers, her arms folded across her chest to keep them from getting burned. Emerging on the other side of them, she drew her pistols on the boy and let loose a hail of bullets. He ran to her left, dodging the shots with such speed he left after-images, and as he neared Natsumi she was forced to hold her fire.

"Ah, what's the matter? Don't trust your aim on a moving target so close to a civilian?"

"Heh, you need a human shield as a crutch?"

"A tactical defense. Look out behind you."

Even as he'd said it, Mana had felt the heat at her back, and she just barely rolled out of the way of the whirling flames that circled back towards her. In seconds, she'd loaded a new clip of ammunition into her gun and fired freezing bullets into the flames, dissolving them into a cold wind. In the same instant she blasted the fire, she used her other arm to block an attack from the youth, and an instant later aimed a high kick that would have snapped his neck, but he was already feinting to her right, trying to wrestle away her gun. She flipped backwards, drawing the other pistol and fired two shots at him, which he dodged while throwing another spell.

"_Buried for an eternity/ Under ground and history / I call upon the Hecatonchire / Free your fists, unleash your fury!_"

Glowing fists emerged out of thin air around Mana and began attempting to pummel her. With lightening swiftness, she fired a point-blank shot at each one, and ended up only being hit twice before destroying all of them. The punches were forceful blows, however, and she felt certain that one of them had broken a rib. Panting, she decided to try to buy herself a break by starting conversation.

"You know, I recognize the magic your using. Not the spells themselves, but you're drawing on energy from the same spell Negi learned from Evangeline, aren't you? What, hoping to beat Negi with his own style?"

"H-ha! Good thinking. You know, despite his power, your master really isn't using this technique to its full potential. We're surprised he didn't figure it out earlier. After all, he's supposed to be a prodigy, right?"

"What do you mean, exactly?" Mana inquired, loading more powerful ammunition into her guns as quietly as she could.

"Well, he gained more power by unlocking his dark side, right? But why stop there? Why be satisfied with only two? When you think about it, once a personality's begun to split, the possibilities are _endless_."

Suddenly, Mana felt a dull pain in her back, and she turned to see that in under a second he'd moved behind her and hit a pressure point. An ordinary human would be either unconscious or in blinding pain from such a blow. Mana gritted her teeth and tried to keep him talking long enough to buy her the thirty seconds she needed to recover.

"Just…just who are you?"

"You want to know our name? We are light, and we are darkness, and we are everything in between. We are one body, and infinite minds. Call us Legion, for we are many!"

He struck her again, and this time she fell unconscious.

"Hey, what the hell, she was supposed to make him more powerful, not turn him into a schizophrenic!"

"Please, calm down, Inugami-san. We think he attempted some kind of experimentation with the technique he learned. Our top scholars are working on it now…"

"We don't have time for that! If we haven't negotiated Mana's return with the Honor Guard soon, they'll just start steamrolling over us and the whole plan'll be in the toilet! Oh, look, she's awake. How're you feeling, girlie?"

Mana couldn't move or see, but she recognized the voice. Somehow, she wasn't surprised to hear it.

"Kotaro? Everyone believes you to be dead. Quite a strategic advantage."

"It's a strategic pain in the ass. You know how long it's been since I was in a real good fight? Laying low has more drawbacks than advantages, if you ask me."

"Same old Kotaro. Were there any other…survivors?"

There was no reply, and Mana's heart sank. She'd always secretly hoped that Kaede had made it out of the failed rebellion alive, but Kotaro's silence made it clear that she was gone for good.

"Inugami-san, we've just received word that the exchange has been negotiated; Mana's return for…"

"Shaddup, ya half-witted grunt! We don't want to give away the whole surprise to our guest, now, do we? Now knock her out again and let's get moving. I've got a long list of scores to settle, and I aim to fix a good number of them tonight!"

* * *


	3. Fair Trade

Chapter 3: Fair Trade

In the center of the forest clearing, Kotaro glanced at his wrist, then remembered he didn't wear a watch. Sighing, he anxiously looked around at his fellow rebels. The young man who called himself Legion was using a jagged kris knife to carve glyph-like symbols on his skin, humming to himself as blood trickled down his arms. Shuddering, he turned his gaze from him to Misora and her still diminutive partner Cocone, who had only agreed to team up with the rebel forces after the wedding day incident. They were sitting silently on a tree stump, their nun's habits covering all but their eyes. Kotaro always wondered why they still wore those, since they were no longer accepted members of the church due to their new allegiance. He'd never talked to them much before, and rarely said anything to them now either. To him, they were just more soldiers. They seemed to prefer it that way.

Turning away from them he saw Yuna Akashi polishing her customized automatic machine gun. Their eyes met, and the two shared the same wild grin. Ever since her trip to the magical world, Yuna had acquired a taste for danger that wouldn't be filled by anything short of a life-or-death firefight. Fortunately for her, she had a natural talent with automatic weapons, and easily held her own in combat. Kotaro secretly believed that she was glad Negi had started this whole mess, since it gave her an excuse to charge headfirst into danger with an abnormal frequency. His eyes looked over her shoulder-length chestnut hair, lingered on her bountiful chest, and then turned away before she noticed him staring too long. Although the two had been in a relationship for a while, she hated when he leered over her before a battle. The couple's passion for combat was too easily confused with their passion for each other, and they'd accidentally distracted each other many times in the past on various battle fields.

A new scent in the air told Kotaro that their opponents would be arriving soon, and he took a deep breath. There was no fight in his history that held as much at stake as this one did. The outcome would determine the fate of the world for centuries to come. He glanced at Yuna again and smiled to himself. _It would be a fitting end for two battle-crazed psychos like us_, he thought to himself. Then he remembered that dying together didn't necessarily mean they would still be together afterwards, and his face hardened again just in time for the arrival of the White Wing Honor Guard.

They landed in a V-shaped pattern, each one wearing the signature white uniforms of their troop, completely opposite of the jet-black battle fatigues Mana was wearing for her confrontation with Legion. Kotaro had long ago learned that the white was only worn on missions of unimportance or missions where they weren't going to require subtlety. Being male, his gaze was naturally drawn to Ku Fei first, as she'd cut a tear in the pants of her uniform so they somewhat resembled traditional Chinese garb. He remembered that the wily martial artist had once stated that it directed the flow of her chi better, but Kotaro had always been fairly certain that she just enjoyed flashing her ass at opponents while simultaneously beating on them.

Catching a disapproving glare from Yuna out of the corner of his eye, he decided to redirect his gaze to the other side of the formation. On the far right was Zazie Rainyday, occupying Mana's usual spot. What little intel there was on her was unreliable at best. She was an enigma when she was a girl in school, and she remained such as a woman in the Honor Guard. The one thing about her that was known for certain was that she'd replaced her signature tear-drop and line facepaint with genuine self-inflicted scars.

On the far left, backed up further than the others, was Haruna Saotome. Kotaro could never help but grin inwardly when he saw that one. She had the same lusty look in her eye that Yuna and himself did, that same love for combat. Most units would place their least powerful troops in the back, as reserves, but Haruna was a far cry from a weak link. The charcoal-haired woman had become quite adept at using her artifact, and while it took her a little more time to activate it than the others, it made her one of the most powerful soldiers of all of them.

Next, Kotaro took a look at Chachamaru Karakuri. Being an android, her physical appearance hadn't changed at all from the early days, and she seemed slightly out of place in her girl's body among the women. He had never understood why Negi had continued to use her build as a model for his robot soldiers, seeing as how it wasn't particularly threatening on it's own. However, the large gatling gun mounted on her right hand and the bladed gauntlet on her left no doubt that she was to be taken seriously despite her appearance.

Finally, in between Chachamaru and Ku Fei, leading the group, was Yue Ayase. Although she'd grown long past girlhood, she was still short, still had a child-like face, and was still nearly flat-chested. If there hadn't still been a noticeable, albeit rather sub-par, height changed, one might swear that puberty had skipped over her entirely. Kotaro clenched his teeth. The fight he owed her was second only to the one he owed Negi. She'd mocked this half-demon's intelligence and his ideals one too many times. Stepping forward, he smiled a fanged grin that had no cheer in it whatsoever. She kept her face straight, and spoke first.

"Did you bring Mana?"

"Hell no. Did you bring the scroll?"

"Of course not."

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing we already got the information from it another way. Legion, why don't you go show the nice Chinese lady what you learned?"

The teenager dropped his knife and began strolling towards his target, whispering a variety of extremely nasty things that made Kotaro sorry his ears were so sensitive. He tried to ignore him and focus on what Yue was saying instead.

"That's it, then? We're just going to jump right into the fight?"

"Doesn't seem like there's much else to do. Unless you want a bathroom break first."

Kotaro could tell from Yue's perfectly blank expression that his comment had stung. He knew she'd never get over her weak bladder mentally, even if she had physically, which he wasn't sure she'd done either. As the two groups took fighting stances, Chachamaru turned Yue.

"Lieutenant, I have detected a substantial power source some ways off. It may be a weapon of some kind. Should I…?"

"Execute and return as quickly as possible."

"Yes, lieutenant."

As she flew off away from the group, Legion's whispering gave way to a yell.

"_Ketril, Aylt, Delt! Grant my enemies swift death with divine fire: dragon's breath!"_

A jet of golden flame burst from his mouth, missing Ku Fei by a hair's breadth. She moved forward to counter-attack, but was repelled by a burst of dark energy that seemed to emanate out of the cuts on his body. In the same instant, Misora charged at Zazie using her enhanced speed, dragging Cocone along, and the three disappeared into the forest. As Yue moved to help Ku Fei, Kotaro stepped in front of her, teeth bared. Yue glanced at Yuna, who was opening fire on a small gremlin-like band of Haruna's creations, then turned her attention back to Kotaro.

"You get one chance. Get out of my way, or you'll lose your other arm."

Kotaro just shifted his empty jacket sleeve and grinned.

"I thought talking tough was supposed to be my bit."

"This isn't a game, Kotaro. Negi let you fake your death under the agreement that you never make trouble for him again. He's given us orders to kill you if you put up too much resistance."

"So he filled you in on that, did he? How long have you all known?"

"Just tonight. He honored his word, Kotaro."

"Humph! That brat doesn't know the meaning of honor. Enough chatter. I believe I've owed you a good ass-kicking for some years now."

In a flash of black energy, his empty sleeve was filled with a dark, muscular arm, which he used to aim a punch directly at Yue. She leapt into the air, landing neatly on a broom that had sped from out of nowhere to catch her, and soared above him.

"Interesting…I'm guessing that arms is made out of the same energy you use to summon your inugami? Impressive technique."

"Can't say the same for your cheap trick. What, couldn't get an animal to like you so you had to make a broom your familiar?"

Growling under her breath, Yue extended her hand towards Kotaro, who braced himself in preparation for the attack.

"_For Zo Cratica Socratica! Kenotētos Astrapsatō de Dias! Akontios Tukos!_"

A great streak of lightening shot from her hand and exploded on his magic arm in brilliant light. He flinched, leaving him open to a second attack which hit him directly. Or so it had appeared.

"Gotcha!"

With a violent snarl, Kotaro and a pack of his inugami charged at Yue from behind and dragged her back down to the ground. As they ripped and tore at her with claws and fangs, she managed to gasp out another spell.

"_Flāns Pariēs Ventī Vertentis!_"

A small whirlwind whipped around her, sending Kotaro and his dogs flying in all directions. The wind also slowed her descent, and she was set gently on the ground. Nonetheless, she was bleeding from a countless number of bites and gashes, and Yue knew she'd have to end the fight quickly or she'd risk passing out from blood loss. As she began mentally preparing her most powerful unincanted spell, she saw Kotaro begin to laugh.

"I don't see what's so funny, you indolent pup. In a matter of moments this is all going to be over."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. Yuna'll be overrun by Haruna in about forty-five seconds, at best. About a minute after that, that depraved artist will send her creations to Zazie at the request of Ku Fei. That will give her the edge she needs to defeat Misora and Cocone. Meanwhile, Ku Fei will be nearly beaten by Legion within another minute and a half. He'll realize this, and then make a careless mistake, allowing Ku Fei to gain the advantage she'll use to beat him once she's rejoined by Haruna and Zazie. After he's gone, I'll be forced to surrender to you, which is just as well since I've only got a fifty-fifty shot at beating you fairly anyways."

Yue stood dumbfounded. She wasn't sure what was more surprising: that Kotaro was speaking with such intelligence or that he seemed perfectly content to lose this battle.

"If you already knew how this was going to turn out, why did you lure us out here at all?"

"It is precisely because I know how this would turn out that I commissioned a magic circle enchanted to electrocute every living being that's not a half-demon. In other words, everyone but me."

Yue laughed.

"You're bluffing. We ran a through scan before landing here, there's no enchantments anywhere on this battle field."

"Who said I put it on the ground?"

Yue immediately looked up at the sky, and at that precise moment a ring of light slightly larger than the clearing materialized in mid-air and rained lightening down on everyone except for Kotaro. As Yue felt herself slowly losing consciousness, she heard Kotaro continuing to taunt her.

"See darling, I realized that you got one thing right. Sometimes you _do_ have to think things through instead of fighting them out. And as much as I would've loved beating you in an even match, I have to admit it's even more satisfying to whup your sorry little butt at your own intellectual game. I've spent the last few years planning this fight's every last detail, right down to explaining it all in front of you to distract you from your unincatned spell. For future reference, the point of those is to not have to prepare them whatsoever, in addition to cutting out the annoying talking bit. Remember that next time you decide to put one together with a 'do-it-yourself' kit, or whatever it is you mages use. Oh, and don't think Chachamaru is coming back for you guys either. After tangling with Ayaka and her mecha-whatever machine and its E.M.P generator, she's not going to be able to do squat for a good long while. Game, set, and _match_, witch."

After Yue fell unconscious, Kotaro shot a flare into the sky signaling for his back-up squads to come and gather them all up. Figuring it would still be a few minutes before they arrived, and after glancing around to make sure he was the only conscious being anywhere nearby, he walked over to Yue and yanked down her pants.

"Diapers! Hah, I _knew _it!"

* * *


	4. Machinations

Chapter 4: Machinations

Satomi Hakase stood stiffly in the lobby of the Fallen Feather research and development facility, a combination of factory and think-tank that had the sole purpose of developing new technology at the behest of Negi Springfield. It's scientists, programmers, and workmen all answered directly to her. She was the sole supervisor. Which is why she was extremely surprised to discover that her I.D card had not possessed the authorization to allow her entry into her own laboratory on this particular day, when Negi had recently announced that he was going to be revealing a very big new project soon.

After she'd been waiting for ten minutes, twirling her long black braids in silent fury as beads of anxious sweat formed on her generously-sized forehead, she heard a familiar voice come from behind her.

"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Hakase, but I had some urgent business to take care of…"

She turned to glare at Albert Chamomile, Negi's ermine familiar. Only he did not possess the appearance of an emine very often anymore. Negi had worked out an enchantment that gave him a human form, and he'd grown particularly fond of it. Many of the other girls didn't like it very much; they thought it looked too much like a combination of their old enemy, Fate Averruncus, and the Sephiroth character from Final Fantasy Seven. From the pictures she'd seen of the two, Satomi had to admit there were some frightening similarities. The long white hair, the narrow eyes on the somehow sinister yet angelic face. But she never had her own opinion of his looks. And right now she was more concerned with another matter.

"Shut up and explain yourself! How dare you lock me out of my own lab! If this is some kind of retaliation for my demanding to know Negi's plans for my new creation, I would like to again point out that most inventors _are_ told about what their machines are going to be used for."

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, you are not like most inventors. However, it _is_ because of your 'Meta-Brain' computer that we're having this conversation. Walk with me, will you? Now, as I'm sure you're aware, the computer you created is capable of, among other things, conceiving and programming other artificial intelligences…"

Satomi felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Um, Chamo? Why are we going towards the exit? My lab is the other way…"

"Yes, um, let's see, Negi wanted me to put this delicately…We're sorry, but you're no longer needed, or wanted, or even cared about here. Machines can do a better job than you, and this is what you get for asking questions. The unions agree, sacrifices must be made. Computers never go on strike. To save the working man, you've got to put him out to pasture."

A menacing glint formed in his eyes, and Satomi noticed that two of her androids had begun silently escorting them. Chamo began slowing his pace to fall behind while the machines forced her along the path to the door.

"Look's like we'll have to let you go. Doesn't it feel fulfilling, though, that you, the human being, are now obsolete and there's nothing in hell we'll let you do about it?"

The androids half-shoved her out the door and onto the sidewalk outside, where she fell down on her knees, still wearing her white lab coat. She felt like she was going to cry. After all the work she'd done for Negi, everything he'd accomplished thanks to her, this was how she being repaid? The instant her usefulness ran out, he dumps her, just like that?

As these thoughts ran through her head and she tried to decide whether to have a nervous breakdown where she was or at her house, she heard a sound like a strong wind come from behind her, and then everything went dark.

When she regained consciousness, she groggily made out the shapes of three people talking about her. Two of them appeared to be ninjas, and the second was a one-armed furry. Their voices sounded vaguely familiar, and she concentrated hard to remember who they sounded like while vaguely trying to figure out why she couldn't move.

"We brought her here straight away, just like you said! No way you're charging us a late fee!"

"Sure I am. You're five minutes past the delivery time, which means I get ten percent off, just like ordering pizza."

"That was just a promotional deal! I can't believe you're gonna short us over five lousy minutes! This is so unfair!"

"Hey, you think you're upset? I've got an interrogation to carry out and now all I can think about is an extra large double-cheese pepperoni! Now, get your rookie ninja butts outta my office before I teach you some manners the old-fashioned way!"

The two ninjas, who Satomi had noticed had nearly identical voices, grumbled angrily as they walked past her.

"God, I hate working for Kotaro. I know we gotta take jobs as they come, but he's just such a…_bitch_."

"What do you expect? How could a pup like that be anything but? Come on, let's hurry up and ditch this doghouse."

As they left, Kotaro muttered under his breath, "Always a laugh riot with the Narutaki twins…"

"Um, excuse me, but would you mind explaining what's going on here?"

"Wha? Oh, sure thing, doll. My name's Kotaro, and this is one of many dingy little rooms inside the rebel alliance base. Certain intelligence I obtained informed me that you would be getting pink slipped today, so I thought I'd have some, er, colleagues bring you over for a little cheering-up."

Satomi sighed. "Let me guess. You want to know about weaknesses in the defense systems I helped Negi build, with particular attention to the android security force?"

"Well, that would be awfully nice, yes."

Satomi rolled her eyes. She'd lost track of how many times she'd been kidnapped and interrogated for those same secrets. A few times were actually arranged by Negi himself as tests of loyalty. Unfortunately, the same standard of loyalty did not apply to her.

"Listen, as much as I would love to help you get back at my former boss, if there's one thing I learned while working for him, it's that betraying him leads to nothing short of an untimely death."

"I thought you might say something like that. Which's why I've got a plan B. Legion!"

The youth stepped out from the shadows, and Satomi was surprised she hadn't noticed him earlier. He was staring straight into her eyes with a hungry gaze, like a starved beast eyeing fresh meat. Kotaro, meanwhile, was cool and confidently composed.

"Legion, I want you to use your magic. Cast a spell to make her tell us everything!"

Legion cupped a hand to his mouth and began whispering into the half-demon's ear. Kotaro responded much less quietly.

"Huh? Whaddya mean you don' _know any_…They are? Oh…Huh, I didn't know that…Well then what do you…Oh. Oh, ew. Eeewww! Okay, stop, stop. Just, just stop talking. In fact, never speak to me again. From now on, everything you want to tell me must be submitted in writing. Ugh."

Turning his attention back to Satomi, Kotaro spoke with a grim voice.

"Bad news, toots. Turns out we don't have any nice ways of doing this. So, here's the deal: Either you tell us how to take down that mechanical army of yours, or my associate here is going to start hurting you. I'm…I'm not really sure when he's going to stop. A lot of what he intends to do sounds pretty…intricate."

Satomi heard a sound that she thought was a small animal being strangled, and then realized it was Legion giggling.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk. The security system of his palace has some key weak points that I'll have to show you while we look at a blueprint. But the androids I can tell you how to get around right now. Negi commissioned the first models before…well, before he'd started taking as many ethical liberties. So he asked me to make sure all of them were programmed not to ever deliver killing blows to anyone who'd been on his class roster. I suspect he may have wanted to change that later, but at first we didn't have the resources or time to make any large programming changes, and after a while it didn't seem necessary anymore."

"You mean after he thought he'd killed the only ones giving him trouble. Thanks, doll. No need to show us the holes in your security. They've changed since you last had a look at them, and we already to know where to hit the updated version. I appreciate your forthcoming, though, I really do."

"You already…so then, you knew about the androids too, didn't you?"

"Well, I've learned not to treat any source as infallible. It's good to be sure, y'know?"

"I heard about how you guys took out the Honor Guard. Negi released the information to the top officials only. But even he has no idea how you did it. And now you claim to know his security networks inside and out. You knew I was going to be fired before _I_ did…Who's helping you? Who do _you_ know that could possibly be so informed?"

"Heh, sorry, but if I told ya, I'd have to kill ya. Which might be better off for you, I don't really know, I'm not personally familiar with precisely how Negi responds to traitors these days."

"Wha…What? You're giving me back to him?"

"Not directly, no. I'm not heartless. But if you had said no to him all those years ago, the world we live in today would be a very different place. You had a chance to stop this, and you didn't take it. I can't forgive that. So no, I'm not delivering you to him. What I _am_ going to do is let you go right back where you came from, and I'm betting you'll get found sooner or later after that. Afterwards, what happens to you happens to you. I don't really care. Legion, put her under and get a team to send her home."

"_Ketril, Aylt, Delt. By witch's apple and maiden's breast, I command you to lay down to rest!"_

The spell sent Satomi into a deep sleep. While she slept, she dreamt of Evangeline requesting the construction of her own personal android, Chachamaru. She dreamt of Chao Lingshen conscripting her help in her scheme at the Mahora festival. She dreamt of Negi requesting her to build him an army made of silicone and steel. And she dreamt of Kotaro kidnapping her for a single conversation he didn't really need to have, then kicking her out. She dreamt of all the people who had used her for her mechanical talents, and then forgot about her the moment they no longer needed her. Just when she began to wonder what she had done to deserve such mistreatment, one of her nameless robots appeared in her dream, and said in the perfect monotone they all spoke in, "Now you know how we feel."

When she woke up, she found herself lying in her bed at home, surrounded by androids and face to face with Chamo, who released a short sigh when he saw her eyes open.

"…Hi."

* * *


	5. The Lamentations Of A Very Bad Man

Chapter 5: The Lamentations Of A Very Bad Man

"I am not a bad guy. I'm really not."

Negi lay with his head in her lap, one hand holding hers and the other relaxing on his chest. Her free hand stroked his auburn hair, which had become lighter in color due to years of spending most of his time indoors. His skin had become paler as well. Not that she cared, of course.

"I mean, sure, I do bad things. But who doesn't? Just because someone does some bad things it doesn't mean that _they're_ bad. It doesn't even have anything to do with how many bad things they do. It's all about the circumstances."

He sat up, and her hair brushed his face. She'd grown it out much longer than she'd used to wear it, upon Negi's recommendation.

"See, a soldier does a lot of bad things. He might kill, ten, twenty, fifty people. But he's not a bad guy, because he's killing people who have to die. And it's not even like he was the one who made that decision. It was decided by someone in charge, someone who people chose to put in the position to make just those types of decisions."

He heard a faint murmur of protest, even though she tried to mask it with a sigh. Turning to face her, he moved a loose bang out of her eyes, caressing her cheek.

"But my dear, they _did_ elect me. They elected me by letting their world go to hell. They elected me by building up evil and breaking down good. They elected me by allowing innocent people to get hurt on a daily basis for no reason at all. Not with words but with actions did they call me, and I came running. Just like the good soldier that I am."

He saw the look of pure admiration that he was so used to return to her face, and began to continue on to his favorite part of the speech.

"Now, I'm not going to lie. I acted pretty extreme to the situation. But no one can say I didn't get results. Good ones, too. There's no war, no crime to speak of. No one is starving, no diseases or natural disasters are sending countries back to the third world. Sure, some places have had to sacrifice some economic luxuries. But we all must sacrifice for each other. It's the only way we can survive as a species: through sacrifice. Through cooperation. Through love and caring and kinship. I made sacrifices too. People think that being in control of the whole world comes without cost, but it that's not true."

She shifted to a more comfortable position. This was her favorite part: when he opened up and let out all his real grief.

"I can never go back to the other world. I'll never see my family or old friends again. I couldn't risk interference from that place, I have the gates guarded with everything I can spare. And I have to send my friends into harms way whenever there's serious trouble, because they're the most powerful troops I…had."

He bit his lip, and she leaned closer.

"He took them all. I know it's him, it has to be, no one else would be able to come anywhere close to pulling it off. One of my best friends is tearing my world down around me, and I not only can't understand how, I can't figure out why. What could have given him the power, the will? Why would he want to hurt me so badly? I thought we had an understanding. We had a deal. It's not like him to go back on something like that. And it's not like him to go after my friends first. They were his friends once too. I don't understand it."

She placed her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to the bed with her. They embraced each other silently for a while, before he began to speak again.

"In the old days, it's times like these where I would say my father would know what to do. But honestly? I don't think he would. I don't think he would have a clue about what to do right now. Which just goes to show there's one more thing I can do better than him."

He rolled onto his back and gazed up at the ceiling, one hand supporting his head and the other twirling her hair as she lay her head on his chest.

"Even after all we went through in the Magic World, even after my face was on posters and TVs across the nations, he still didn't come to me. Oh, he's not dead, not even now. We all know that. He just doesn't care. He might never have. Still, I wish he could see me."

His eyes brightened as half of a daydream formed in front of them.

"I did everything he ever did, only better. Imagine it, the son he forgot or lost or whatever, so long ago, becoming a greater man than he could have ever hoped to be. He brought temporary peace between a few countries. I brought eternal peace to a world."

She looked into his eyes with a knowing stare, and he shifted his away from her.

"Okay, so maybe I would like for him to be proud of me too. Who wouldn't want that, though?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek.

Some time later, after he'd fully dressed himself, Negi was staring out the window while she still slept. Or pretended to sleep. He'd stopped checking to be sure, since she didn't seem to mind his leaving without a proper goodbye. Staring out at the night sky, he shivered although there was no wind or chill. For the first time in years, he was scared. Fortunately, he'd been able to hide that from her, otherwise they might not have enjoyed themselves as much as they did that night. Still, he would've liked to confide in her more, as he usually did. But he couldn't bear to make her worry, although there was plenty to worry about. His defenses had been left so bare he felt naked when he walked through his own halls. But that wasn't his real concern. He knew he was powerful enough to take on anyone who came to challenge him. What he was afraid of was that Kotaro was going to make him hurt and possibly kill more people, maybe even more of his old friends. He didn't have a private army and a fantastic security network to protect him from intruders, he had them so that intruders wouldn't have to protect themselves from _him_. And what scared him the most was that he was starting to look forward to the oncoming slaughter. He knew that was a sign of Eva's dark magic eating away a little more of his soul, and he was beginning to stop caring. Sighing, he muttered under his breath to the night sky.

"Father, I really wish you were here so I could kill you for letting me come to this. I could've just been a normal mage, helping people like we were supposed to. But no, you had to up and leave me to my own devices without so much as a single word of guidance. And look what I've gotten myself into, huh?"

He summoned his staff and prepared to fly out the window. He preferred leaving in the dead of night; the day had begun to seem unfriendly and unsafe to him. But the night was cool and refreshing. Before he left, he turned and whispered, as he always did, "Goodnight, Makie."

* * *


	6. Be Aggressive BE Aggressive

Chapter 6: Be Aggressive. B-E Aggressive

Kotaro and Legion stood in a bubble-like force field under several feet of sewage water, just beneath one of the many moving hallways that made up Negi's palace. Two and a half minutes after a full security alert is issued, they would shift into a position that would allow a straight walk to Negi's throne room. As Kotaro double-checked their position on the palace blueprints, Legion began snickering.

"You do realize that after this is all over, we're going to kill you, right?

Kotaro didn't so much as move a muscle, and Legion laughed out loud.

"So, she told you we wouldn't make it out alive, huh? Lucky for you. You know we'd do it. And you know we could."

Kotaro pretended not to hear him.

"Well, if she says it, we guess it must be true. After all, she always was completely forthcoming with you, wasn't she? That's why you weren't even the least bit startled when you found out about _us_, right? Oh, wait…"

This time he flinched.

"Got your attention, did we? Well, don't worry. We're sure she didn't tell you we would bite it just to be sure you'd take us on your team."

Kotaro growled and took out a cell phone.

"Guys? We're in position. You may attack when ready."

"This is Yuna. We hear you. Attack shall commence in approximately sixty seconds. Over and out. Ready guys?"

She turned to the rest of the attack team. Misora and Cocone nodded silently, and Ayaka nodded the sunken head of her mecha. It's single glowing red eye flickered, and various whirring and clicking sounds began emanating from inside it's blocky body, signaling the preparation of its vast arsenal. The Narutaki twins giggled and gave their thumbs-up. And the three cheerleaders each smiled.

"Oh yeah. Those lame robots don't stand a chance! Er, no offense to Ayaka, of course." Misa Kakizaki chuckled, clearly enjoying herself more than most would think appropriate given the situation.

"Um, is Kotaro going to be okay with Ch-I mean, Legion? He's gotten kind of really creepy…" Madoka Kugimiya asked with genuine concern in her deep voice.

"Ugh, I agree. I'm so glad we made pactios with him _before_ he went psycho. It's too bad, he was such a cute kid too…I mean, for his age." Sakurako Shiina mused.

"Just what happened to him, anyways?" One of the twins (Yuna could never tell which one was which, especially when they were in full ninja gear) asked aloud. After a short moment of silence, Yuna spoke up.

"Kotaro has a theory. Eva's technique gives form to the darkness inside a person's soul. Negi only ever had one 'dark' motive: to win at all costs. But Legion had easily more than one: revenge, hatred, rage…Once he realized that he could draw power from more than one of his 'dark sides', he probably tried to split off even more of them in an attempt to get more power."

Suddenly, Ayaka's mecha emitted a loud whine.

"Ayaka's weapons systems are fully online. Alright, folks, let's do this. Cheerleaders, show us your stuff."

"God, is that all we are to you people? That was middle school, for crying out loud! Madoka's a secretary, Misa's an apprentice fashion designer, and I'm an assistant veterinarian! There's more to us than…oh forget it. Let's get on with this."

The trio activated their pactios, emitting a gleaming aura. They began executing their old cheerleader routine, which was in flawless unison thanks to recent practice, and the aura was transferred from them to the other rebels. Empowered by the magic-infused cheer, they charged straight at Negi's palace, and were met with a small army of over fifty android soldiers.

"Beat'em up beat'em up, Ra Ra Ra! Snap those spinal cords, Ha Ha Ha!"

The courtyard outside the palace erupted in magical gunfire. Ayaka lead the attack, her huge mecha crushing the smaller robots underfoot and blasting through larger models with arm-mounted cannons. As she tore through them, she couldn't help but sigh as she reflected on how her life had taken her to this point. Even though there had never been any question about her dedication to the cause, her Disney-princess looks had made her somewhat ostracized among the other rebels, and she'd spent more of the past few years with her war-machine than with other people. Deep down, what she wanted most out of this fight was enough closure to allow her to return to the life of elegance and romance she'd abandoned over a broken heart.

While Ayaka's thoughts were moody and lethargic, as they always were when she entered a battle, Yuna was so euphoric she half-wished the fight would go on forever. Even though the androids greatly outnumbered the rebel group, and reinforcements were pouring in from all sides, they were forced to use low-power ranged weaponry while the rebels could fight with their full strength, giving them an advantage. However, the droid's superior strength could still render any one of them unconscious with a decent hit, so they had to be careful in close-quarters. It was just the right level of a challenge for Yuna, and her team might've been able to win were it not for the fact that, even with increased stamina from the cheerleaders, they would eventually grow too tired to keep the overwhelming mechanical force at bay. Nonetheless, the extra energy would keep them going for a while yet, and as Yuna observed the twins and Misora and Cocone pinball off target to target with a combination of enhanced physical strikes and magical attacks, she prayed that Kotaro would not take Negi down too quickly.

* * *

In fact, Kotaro and Legion had just run into a significant delay. The pair stood in a large dojo, empty aside from Setsuna and Konoe, who stood across from them in front of a door. Konoka was surrounded by a glowing blue field of energy, and they both had a radiance that signaled to Kotaro a substantial regenerating spell was in constant effect between them. Setsuna had already drawn her blade and taken a fighting stance. They'd been expected.

"I must say Kotaro, this was an idiotic move even for you. Attacking our main force with such a small strike team and assuming we were not aware of such a glaring weakness in our defense network. I had anticipated better from someone who'd taken down all of my White Wings."

"You're calling _me_ the idiot? I'm not the one who brought a knife to a gunfight, lady."

In the blink of an eye, Kotaro had summoned a fair-sized cannon made completely out of black energy, complete with a scope and ammo feed, in the place of his missing arm. Setsuna blocked the shot more out of reflex than anything else, and would've been obliterated had she been a second slower. The blast erupted on her blade in dark ripples through the air, and it took all her might to kept from being flung backwards. She stood, trembling, staring at Kotaro in awe.

"You seem surprised. What, you didn't get the memo? I fight dirty now. Which reminds me: Legion, make'em hurt."

He charged at Setsuna, chanting as he ran, "_Ketril, Aylt, Delt!_ _Cutting through both day and night, powered by the heavens' might, time's first blades: sun and moon's light!"_

Gold and silver swords appeared in his hands, and he swung at Setsuna with them one at a time using superhuman speed. Though she could block each attack easily, the blows had an extraordinary amount of force behind them, keeping her too off-balance to effectively counterattack. However, she had far superior training, and it wouldn't be long before she could maneuver herself to a more advantageous position. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't the only one she had to worry about. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kotaro running straight for her partner, and after deflecting another attack she half-ran, half-cartwheeled to block his path, knowing a point-blank shot from his makeshift firearm would be more than enough to shatter Konoka's shield. After barely missing Kotaro, who backflipped to avoid being cut in half, she spun around to deflect a double-bladed assault from Legion, then twirled around again to slash at Kotaro again. She continued to bounce back and forth between them, parrying cheap shots and following through once or twice before returning to her previous opponent, for at least a dozen rotations. Finally realizing Setsuna wouldn't tire as long as Konoka was helping her, the two decided to attack in unison, which was just what she'd been waiting for. Leaping to avoid the pincer movement, she executed one of her most powerful attacks at the same time Legion cast his next combat spell.

"Hiyaa! Kyokudai Raimeiken!"

"_Ketril Aylt Delt! Striped guards_…"

The powerful lightening attack struck before he could finish, but that didn't seem to matter. Setsuna could feel a large portion of the electricity bounce away from her intended targets, and a few bolts even glanced by her. As she returned to the ground, Kotaro and Legion charged out of the smoke from the burning floor with sparks still flying off of them, the latter completed his incantation.

"…_and warrior stars_."

Fifty small, glittering lights burst out from the air behind him and all flew at Setsuna. A fair portion of the tiny magical missiles bounced harmlessly off her sword, but they were aimed at all parts of her body and most of them hit her squarely with the force of an air pellet. She braced herself for a follow-up attack, figuring such an assault couldn't be more than a distraction, and sure enough Legion leapt at her with another enchantment.

"_Suit of swords, fifty-five thorns, countless slain, unending pain!_"

Setsuna felt the onslaught of blade after blade come at her, though Legion didn't seem to be holding a single weapon. She deflected each attack flawlessly, but they were coming too quickly for her to make any other moves, and meanwhile Kotaro was charging straight at Konoka. Seeing there was only one chance to prevent him from reaching her, she performed another of her Shinmeiryuu techniques.

"Hyakuretsu Ōkazan!"

The circular slash left her open to high strikes, and several of the magic swords landed deep cuts on her shoulders and face. However, Kotaro had been cut right across the small of his back, and he fell to the ground as blood gushed from the wound. However, he had still fallen within a foot of the shield, and with a final effort he fired at it's center, causing it to burst apart with a huge backdraft of energy that knocked both Kotaro and Konoka unconscious. That flux of energy and the severity of her wounds slowed Setsuna's reflexes just enough to keep her from preventing Legion's dash past her to her partner, who he held by the neck just off the ground.

"Drop your sword."

Setsuna complied. Without her healer, the wounds she'd suffered would cost her victory in a fair fight anyways. There was no chance for her to win now, and she wouldn't jeopardize her partner any further.

"Now, turn around."

She did so, and a bolt of dark magic knocked her unconscious. After she'd fallen, still bleeding from her gashes, Legion walked over to Kotaro and placed a small charm on his back. It began pouring magical energy into the wound, and Legion smiled, satisfied. Then, stepping over Konoe's body, he opened the exit door of the dojo and strolled on towards the center of the palace.


	7. Justice Like Lightening

Chapter 7: Justice Like Lightening

"Here's what I want to know. What happened to you that made your desire to kill _me_ so great that you became willing to completely cast off both logic and morality at such a young age?"

The twin oak doors of Negi's main chamber fell before Legion, but not without magical backblast. His armor had been blown off completely, and his clothes were in tatters. Glowing black lines criss-crossed his entire body, no single pattern or design the least bit symmetrical. An insane grin was framed by wild, hungry eyes, and his body seemed to shake with laughter though he made no sound.

"Not one for small-talk, huh? Can I at least get a name before I send you into oblivion?"

Negi rose from his throne beside Nodoka, squeezing her hand before stepping down towards the center of his colossal throne room, staring confidently into his opponents' twisted stare.

"Call us Legion, for we are many."

"Legion, huh? Funny. They say it's within my power to take on a hundred men single-handedly. That's how many troops are in a legion, right?"

Negi cast off his cloak, revealing a white sleeveless martial-arts tunic. He flexed his muscles, and the left half of his body turned completely black with dark energy. The air in between the two fighters cackled with raw power as they charged at each other. Negi easily avoided Legion's wild swings and delivered a swift uppercut, spin-kicked him in the chest, and then sent him flying with a palm-strike. As he hit the ground, Negi resumed his fighting stance and snickered.

"You may have some decent strength, but raw power will only get you so far without any technique."

Legion blinked, and suddenly he was replaced with countless, pitch-black copies of himself that went charging around the throne room, attacking Negi from all sides. His magically enhanced reflexes weren't enough to avoid them all, but he still kept his focus and after taking several fierce blows he determined that all the copies were moving towards a general focal point on his right flank. He threw a small flurry of unincanted magic arrows towards it, and the copies vanished inside of Legion, who'd once again become visible.

"Interesting. I haven't seen a technique like that before. It wasn't after-images or body-doubles. They appeared to be shadow creatures similar to Kotaro's inugami, only humanoid and in a substantially greater number. Is that why you had to dissolve yourself among them?"

Legion didn't make a sound, and Negi sensed the next attack too late to block it. His own shadow rose up from the ground and pulled him backwards, down through the floor into itself. For a moment he was completely disoriented and in total darkness, but after a moment's concentration he stabilized himself. However, he was still unprepared for the sudden assault of sharp claws, hidden in the abyss. Again, he took a savage beating in the few moments he needed to readjust his focus and concentrate on finding the origin of at attacks. This time he decided he would use magic to counterattack, to ensure his opponent would stay down.

"_Rastel Maskil Magister!_ _Malleus Aquilonis!_"

A huge sphere of ice formed above Negi and hurled itself at his target. The blackness fell away from him in a brilliant flash, and then he was back in the throne room, in the same position he'd been standing in. Legion had risen to stand opposite him, and though his smile remained he held a hand to his head as if he was in great pain.

"A psychic attack that time, hm? You are just full of surprises. I can't say I'm enjoying them too much. Perhaps it's time I found out what was really on your mind. Nodoka, would you…?"

She nodded, and with the snap of her fingers summoned her mind-reading artifact. Beneath her long dark bangs her eyes focused intensely on the pages, and then…

"YAAAAAAHHHH!"

Negi turned to his wife, and with greater speed than he'd shown earlier in the battle Legion swept by him, landing a brutal kidney punch as he passed. Leaping towards Nodoka, Negi gasped the chant for a protective spell, erecting a wll of wind around the two.

"_Rastel Maskil Magister!_ _Flans Paries Venti Vertentis!_ Nodoka, what…?"

"Ahhhh, Negi it, haah, hurts. I couldn't see his…couldn't see…too many…"

Before he could try to use a healing spell on her, the wall of wind dissipated and Legion came charging at the couple. Realizing he had to keep the fight as far from Nodoka as possible, Negi sprinted across the room, allowing a volley of dark magic arrows to land squarely on his back. Spinning to face his attacker, he fired another spell. Rage kept him from feeling most of the pain his body was in, and it also prevented him from noticing that Legion was saying the exact same words he was.

"_Veniant Spiritus Aeriales Fulgurientes! Cum Fulguratione Flet Tempestas Austrina! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!_"

The two lightening spells collided in midair, sending bolts streaking all around the throne room. Both spellcasters were enveloped in the storm and were blown back to opposite sides of the massive chamber, thousands of volts coursing through their bodies. As Negi lay panting in a crumpled heap, he heard Legion's strained laughter across from him.

"You feel it now, don't you? The confusion. The fear. The rage. Not knowing why, not knowing how. Now you know what you made us feel. Now we have our justice. All that remains…"

Though blood from a cut on his forehead was obscuring his sight, and thunder still pounded in his ears, he knew that his foe was rising, and if he made it all the way across the room there would be no way to stop him from delivering a killing blow.

"…is VENGEANCE!"

He laughed, shrilly, like a newly escaped lunatic, and slowly made his way towards Negi, limping from the labors of the battle.

"There's nothing you can do to stop us. We know everything you'll do before you do it. You belong to us."

He was steps away from Negi now, and he'd raised his arm in preparation for his final strike, when a sudden burst of icy wind shot from Negi's outstretched hand, blasting him onto his back. Negi lurched forward and kicked his fallen opponent in the ribs, stomped him, and then prepared to deliver his own finishing blow as he caught his breath.

"How…? No one could manage an unincanted...not after that…"

"While you were taking your time gloating I wrote out a spell on the floor using the blood that was trickling down from the wound on my shoulder."

"Ah. Clever. Very, erg, clever. We are going to enjoy the rest of this fight."

"That's a joke right? You're finished. This ends here."

"We…were not talking about _us_."

Negi hesitated, and was sent flying off of Legion by a swift kick that came out of nowhere. Turning as he hit the ground, he saw Kotaro staring straight back at him, snarling.

"_God_, I love showing up late to the party. Ready for round two, old friend?"


	8. Out Of The Shadows

Well, here it is, the last chapter. Discoveries are made, twists are plotted, actions is packed. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you have the rest of the story. Whether you did or didn't, feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'd love to know what you thought worked or didn't work, so I can do or not do similar things in future stories.

Chapter 7: Out Of The Shadows

Negi stood up, though he was badly beaten, to confront his old rival. Knowing that the fight was about to become substantially more violent than it already had been, he decided to make one last request and hope his old friend would hear him out.

"Kotaro, I don't know why you've suddenly become so vengeful towards me, but please, spare Nodoka. She hasn't done anything to you. Before we start again, before we finish this, let her go. No one else needs to get hurt."

The half-demon grinned without a hint of joy and glanced sideways at his partner.

"Legion, I do believe that he's asking us for some leniency on behalf of his family. What do y'all say to that, eh?"

For the first time since the battle had begun, Legion's insane smile disappeared, and his face was overcome with absolute fury. Shaking with emotion, he once again separated into a small army of shadow clones, crying out, "You killed _my_ MOTHER, you son of a bitch!"

At the same time, Kotaro summoned his own pack of shadow wolves, and the dark figures stormed Negi with such ferocity he could barely defend himself, much less prepare for Kotaro's own assault. Using the shadow figures as cover, he sporadically ran by Negi to deliver a single vicious blow before running away back into the storm of claws and teeth and fists. As he charged around Negi, he mocked him after every hit.

"Man, I just realized, you still have no way of knowing who that boy is, do you? Kaede, Chisame, Satsuki, Anya, Takane, Mei…you killed so many young women on that one day alone, not to mention the men. But from how hard you're fighting, I can see you still think you're in the right. How on earth do you justify still calling yourself a good guy? How can you honestly believe that you don't deserve to be beaten into a pulp right here and now?"

After being simultaneously pummeled and taunted for some time, Negi felt a build up of dark energy behind him, and he turned just in time to see Kotaro's gun-arm pointed at his face.

"Bye."

Kotaro fired, and a massive explosion of dark energy slammed him and Legion into the walls of the room. Floor tiles flew up from the resulting crater, and debris rained down from the ceiling. In the wake of the blast, dust and residual energy flew everywhere. Legion turned on Kotaro with the look of an enraged beast of prey, though Kotaro was still grinning humorlessly.

"How could you! He was supposed to be _mine_! And you've blown him up! I'll kill you for that a hundred times over, you..."

"Relax, whacko," the wolf-demon responded, coughing blood into his hand, "I didn't make that explosion."

Legion whirled around, and saw Negi emerge from the rubble. His skin had turned completely black now, and he was surrounded by a dark aura so dense that his eyes and hair were his only recognizable features.

"You unbelievable idiots. You're abilities are infinitesimal compared to what I am capable of. Legion, you think just because you figured out some unique possibilities within the Magica Erebea you have what it takes to best _me_?"

He fired a blast of pure black magic directly at the teenager, sending him into the wall with such force it caused a shallow crater.

"Well, while you were toying around with the technique, you know what I was doing? I was getting better at what I _already knew_."

In the blink of an eye, Negi was standing over him even as he was struggling to stand, and the dark sorcerer kicked him with such force he was sent spinning across the floor.

"And you, _old friend_…"

He split himself into four body doubles and, by using their still incredible speed, created a small army of afterimages while running around the target, taking occasional potshots that sent Kotaro bouncing around from one attacker to the other.

"You could never hold a candle to me. I was always the strongest, and I always will be. Not because I have more drive, or more dedication, but just because I'm simply better than you in every possible way."

He returned to a single form, and sent Kotaro flying with a final elbow strike. As he walked over to him with the intent of finishing him for good, Negi laughed out loud.

"What on earth made you think either of you could possibly defeat me?"

Kotaro vomited, and then looked straight into Negi's eyes. He replied with a voice so weak it could've been a whisper.

"Not…us. Her."

Negi turned to look at Nodoka, who was looking back at him from behind a magic shield she'd managed to erect for herself sometime during the battle.

"Trying to read…Legion…was like…reading a hundred pages…at the same time. Couldn't handle…blew open her mind to all the thoughts in the room…So she's about to know…about you…and…Makie."

Even if she couldn't have seen his thoughts laid out before her, the shudder that ran through him would've told her that what she'd seen Kotaro think was true. Negi had been cheating on her with Makie since the very day of their wedding. The only reason that he'd married her was because he needed to make sure she never used her artifact against him. And the best way he knew to do that without killing her was to marry her, binding her with a trust he knew she'd never betray. Unless, as Kotaro had apparently figured out, she couldn't help it. But even with this sleight, Nodoka might not have had the will necessary to challenge her unfaithful husband, except that when she looked at his face and his mind she didn't see guilt or shame or even desire for forgiveness. She saw only fear. And that turned every bit of passion she'd had for him into hatred so strong she had to unleash it on him or she felt she'd explode out of raw fury and anguish.

"Sagitta Magica! Consecutive bursts, One-Hundred and Fifty-One Arrows of Light!"

"Sagitta Magica! Consecutive bursts, Two-Hundred and Seventy-Seven Arrows of Darkness!"

The magical blasts collided with each other, and Negi's extra shots burst on Nodoka's shield, proving to be just enough to destroy it. With it gone, Negi rushed at her, hoping to knock her unconscious before their battle got out of hand. Although, his thoughts were still being broadcast before her eyes, it still took a huge effort for her to avoid his supremely agile strikes. Still, she was able to concentrate and use the telepathy that was granted them due to being advanced pactio partners to ask him the last thing she needed to know.

"Did you ever really love me?"

Negi responded, his thoughts tainted with a cold darkness.

"The only girl I ever loved was killed years ago."

Inwardly, Nodoka screamed in frustration and despair. But she knew she had to use her physical strength to take more important action. While dodging, she panted out another spell, using the last of her stamina.

"Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem, In Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Fulguratio Albicans!"

Even with his enhanced powers, the force of the lightening bolt conjured from the spell was too much for Negi to withstand, and the jolt sent him reeling backwards. Knowing this would be her only chance to ensure his defeat, she summoned as many magic arrows as she could before passing out. They struck him before he fell, juggling him in mid-air, and even as he hit the ground dark arrows rained down on him, signaling Legion's final efforts before collapsing as well. However, even after the barrage, Negi was not finished. Rising slowly and weakly, but rising nonetheless, he drew himself up to his full height and faced Kotaro, the only one of his opponents still standing.

"What was it all for, Kotaro? What brought you to hate me as much as the others?"

Kotaro trudged forward, gathering dark energy in place of his missing arm for a final attack.

"It's not because you enslaved the world. It's not because of the people you killed, or the lies you told, or the hearts you broke. It's not because you were always better than me, in one sense or another. It's not because I think what you did was truly so evil. It's not even because you exiled me for ten rotten years. So you tell me, what's it all for?"

Realization dawned on Negi, and the absurdity of it made him want to break down and cry. It was that second's distraction that allowed Kotaro to get close enough to fire a fatal shot, though he lacked the energy to fully form his weapon and ended up partially blowing himself up to execute his last attack. As Negi fell, a gaping wound leaking blood from his chest, he whispered, "All that, because of a single _arm_?!"

"It was _my_ arm, you bastard!"

Negi chuckled. Somehow, the insanity didn't seem as sorrowful now that it didn't matter so much.

"Tell me, then, just how did you do it? You couldn't have planned the whole thing yourself. And no one could've known the things you knew…"

"Oh, I wouldn't say _no one_. Think about it: who better to know you and you minion's every move than someone who'd seen them all made? Chao wasn't the only bitch from the future with a time machine, you know."

Negi's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that.

"All along, there was one person working under you who had never agreed with your brave new world. But unlike the rest of us idiots, who had decided to openly defy you, she decided to fake a smile and put up with you until she got a clear shot to take you down. And, years later, Kazumi did."

"Impossible. If she had actually gained access to time travel, why not just jump back and stop me at the very beginning, instead of sending you?"

"Because, much as some might hate to admit it, you did make the world a better place. And you know she'd always wanted magic to be introduced to the normal world. But she knew that the whole world couldn't answer to just one man forever. With you out of the way, the first steps toward a true, cooperative utopia will begin."

"But…that means…"

And, fueled by one last burst of rage, Negi rose to his feet, radiating waves of dark energy in a dying scream.

"SHE LET ASUNA DIE!"

His yell, empowered by dark magic, was the last straw for the throne room. It began to crumble around the beaten fighters, and Kotaro knew that he could only carry one other person and still make it out alive. He also knew there was no question about who to choose. Picking up Nodoka and placing her on his shoulders, he gritted his teeth and charged out of the collapsing throne room. As he ran, he paused only briefly to offer a silent apology to Chisame on behalf of her son. Then, with all the speed he could manage, he left the disintegrating world of darkness behind and sped towards a brighter new one.


End file.
